The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-22
A CLUB MAN ON DINNERS.
A Millionaire Who Don't Know How
to Give Dinners.

TO SlV6 OiklIlef5.
New YORK, May 2l.-~What are you
thinking about, chappie"
The club man to whom this question was
addressed started as though surprised at the
discovery that he was capable of sufficient
intellectual effort to think. Recovering
himself, he replied:
q was thinking what beastly bad dinner
had last night"
''WhereP'
"At the Martins"
Bradley"
EsYesn
"He's a millionaire
"True, but ne doesn't know how to give a
dinner. It's served on gold plate, the table
is laden with Baroness de Rothschild roses
that cost 81 so apiece, the after dinner
cigars cost as much, and your host shoves
three kinds of Madeira at you, telling you
that not one of the three can be equaled in
this country; but for all that the dinner last
night wasn't first class "
WASN'T well cookcd"
''Oh, yes; well enough cooked, and I'll
even go so far as to say that the various
wines were served with the right courses
class"
'What the deuce was the matter with it,
or with your
''You think perhaps wasn't first classs
You're mistaken. was prime"
Grant that then. What was the matter
with the dinnerW
sit lacked refinement. / can't say Just
where or how. Refinement is like the odor
of a rose. You can't define it. But a per-
son of refinement is painfully conscious of
its absence in Others
From the eminence of his idealized refine
ment he continued:
"There are really only two houses in New
York where you can get a perfectly APP
pointed dinner. The head of one is Euro
pean, and his entourage reflects the taste of
a cultured European-he is Mr.. August
Belmont, the other gentleman, Mr.. Francis
r. Rives is from the South Some people
the parvenus OF society-say TIE Bel
monts are losing their grip ON society
They're not losing tlIeir grip; they are sim
ply letting go of it. They are tired. You
rarely hear nowadays OF the people who
were prominent in society here
in the days when the Belmonts
were its unquestioned leaders. They are
either dead or, like the Belmonts, tired
When our society was smaller and more So
lect; when it was graccd by the beauty of
Miss Wadswoltn and the loveliness of Miss
Beckwith and enlivened by the brisk con-
versation of ladies like Brockholst Cutting,
and when bon mots were remembered; in
brief, in the halcyon days of society, the
house, of Belmont was the first in the city
August Belmont was the most cultivated rich
man in New York, and from his coachaan
to his button boy everything in his estab-
lishment was perfectly appointed The
same perfection of encourage exists in the
Riyes establishment. No family in New
York society has so many real friends.
Mr. Francis r.. Rives was Secretary of Lee
cation at the time his father was Minister
to France
"And these are the only two houses in New
York where you can get a perfectly appoint
ed dinnerm
''The only two in which large dinner is
served in absolutely correct style. There
are six other houses where they give admi-
rable small dinners--where you feel that
you can dine as well as you can at your
club. They are the houses of Mr.. Edgerton
Winthrop, Mr.. Frederick Bronson, Col.
William Jay, Mrs b. Cutting, Mrs G.. Il.
Jones and Mr.. James Y. Parker. Mr.
Parker especially is capital host, and his
entertainments revive memories OF the
glories OF the old Parker House, now the
quarters Of the Manhattan Club"
But, dear boy, you omit the Astors.n
"The AstoIs have had their money for
three generations, but they haven't gotten
over the parve1ue state yet. They haven't
acquired the art Of living.
hAnd the old Dutch familiesT'
"The Van Rengalaers are only a name.
The MISUNDERSTANDING Of course-well,
it's good house TO be seen at. One OF the
twins you know, married young Mills, and
the otner G.. cavendish Bentlnck, nephew
of the Duke of Portland"
''And the Vanderbiltsf'
The gastronomical guide lay back in his
chair, and after surveying the questioner,
said:
''Really, my boy, never heard OF them.
Are they in societvr HENRY JAMES